Indonesia

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Having emerged from authoritarianism in the last 15 years, Indonesia has made remarkable strides politically, economically and socially. Yet the new, democratic Indonesia is still a developing country facing considerable challenges. How can Indonesia continue its path of growth, reform and prosperity? What is Indonesia’s role in the global community?

Event Sponsors

Portland State University

Presenters

Roger K. Paget

Emeritus Professor of Political Economy and Asian Studies, Lewis & Clark College

Roger Paget is Institutional Professor Emeritus of Political Economy and Asian Studies, Lewis & Clark College. Since the 1950s, Paget has made Indonesia the geographic focus of his scholarly career, the last 17 years of which were spent at Lewis & Clark College.What first entranced Paget about Indonesia were its sounds, which he heard during an undergraduate ethnomusicology class. "The music appealed to me because of its huge variety," says Paget, noting the plethora of distinct cultures on many of the 7,000-plus populated islands that, together with 10,000 or so deserted others, make up Indonesia.Recognizing the country’s myriad cultures piqued his interest in their political implications. "Indonesia, perhaps more than any other nation at that time," he explains, "seemed to have that promise of building a wonderful new nation incorporating all that diversity."

He penned his senior honors thesis on Indonesian political history and attended the U.S. Army Language School, where he earned the highest qualification as an interpreter-translator of Indonesian and Malay. For his Ph.D. in government and Asian studies, he studied under the late George Kahin, America’s foremost scholar on Indonesia. Kahin’s connections helped Paget win entrée to Sukarno, founding president of Indonesia, which led to years of translation and interpretation of Sukarno’s works. The most notable volume was the political tract "Indonesia Accuses!," Sukarno’s 1930 courtroom denunciation of Dutch colonialism, to which Paget provided valuable intellectual and political-historical context. Today, Paget calls Indonesia "a second home," and plans to continue his frequent visits and consultant work there in retirement.